The Giants claimed left-hander Jonathan Bermudez off waivers from the Astros. Houston designated Bermudez for assignment this past weekend. To clear a 40-man roster spot, San Francisco recalled reliever Gregory Santos and placed him on the major league 60-day injured list, likely ending his season.
The 26-year-old Bermudez is changing organizations for the first time in his career, as he was a 23rd-round draft pick for the Astros back in 2018. He pitched in both 2019 and 2021, in the latter season returning from the 2020 layoff year to post a 3.24 ERA over 111 combined innings with the Astros’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates.
Between Bermudez’s impressive strikeout and walk totals, it seemed as though Houston was developing another homegrown gem, yet the 2022 season has been a grind for the left-hander. Bermudez has an 8.96 ERA over 67 1/3 innings at Triple-A, with an increased walk rate and a big dropoff in his missed bats — Bermudez has only a 20% strikeout rate this season, down from 31% in 2021. A hip injury could be a contributing factor, as Bermudez missed a month of action and struggled both before and after his absence.
The Astros put Bermudez on their 40-man roster during the offseason, but his lack of production in 2022 made him an expendable piece. The Giants are one of baseball’s most aggressive teams on the waiver wire, so it isn’t surprising that they’ve moved to add a younger pitcher who showed a lot of promise as recently as last season. Whether due to a healthier hip or perhaps just with a change of scenery, Bermudez might well be able to turn things around in San Francisco, given how the Giants have been successful at revitalizing several struggling pitchers.
Farhan realizes this isn’t Oakland anymore, right?
26 year old with a 9 era in AAA, but he must have really cool peripherals. As we all know, spin rate is way more important than actually preventing runs. Blow me, Farhan.
Yikes, that ERA is bad even for the PCL.
Farhan claiming anyone that can play baseball.
Another Zaidi DFA in waiting
another try out, under Farhan he must have the record of most players through the employment circle in any one season
It will be quickly noticed if they can correct the wildness
I notice that, so far, all the comments disparaging this move, just completely ignore the fact that this acquisition is about taking a flyer on a pitcher who’s coming off a hip injury. It’s a no-risk upside play that may or may not work out but has a rational basis.
It’ll cost them nothing to find out if he can regain his form.
Well we Giants fans are sick of these being the only moves. Paying for actual talent is a better plan than taking a million fliers on cast asides. Ticket prices and beer prices aren’t going down, but the payroll sure is.
@tedtheodorelogan – Chill. As a Giants fan, the most frustrating part about this season is other Giants fans.
The Giants and their farm were awful when Farhan took over. Meanwhile, the Dodgers and Padres were (and still are) powerhouses. As a result, Farhan has taken a more patient approach, yet still made some very shrewd moves along the way (Gausman and Rodon are the most obvious, and Wade Jr, Yaz, Flores, Ruf, Junis, Pederson and even Wood and Disco have all had some level of success). Can you name any other team that has had that many wins on signings and seemingly inconsequential trades?
The team has already spent money relative to being a middle of the pack team on paper, so be patient, and they will spend when the team is ready. Actually, you didn’t even have to be patient – the team set a franchise record for wins just 2 years into Farhan’s tenure, a year when just being above .500 was a miracle.
But yeah, Farhan should “blow you” (per your other comment) for making a nearly inconsequential, zero risk move.
Thing is, Rodon is going to opt out and go to a team that will pay him. Farhan will make an offer like he always does, just like he did with Gausman, but it won’t be the winning offer. But Farhan will be able to go on KNBR and say that he tried, and suckers will eat it up. I’m sure they will just barely miss on Judge too, all while not being able to develop major league caliber outfielders of their own. Webb is the first legit homegrown starting pitcher since Bumgarner a decade ago. The only position player Farhan has signed to a multi year deal is LaStella, and he is terrible. Remember when he paid 10 million bucks to Zach Cozart so the Angles would throw in Will Wilson? People who are overly optimistic are worse than people who call out the failure to make real moves. Rodon is dealing right now though.
@tedtheodorelogan – “People who are overly optimistic are worse than people who call out the failure to make real moves.” Can you clarify, please? Because you are “call(ing) out the failure to make real moves” on an inconsequential move that, as @goob already pointed out, are the only moves any team can make right now, and cherrypicking random moves… which is pretty insufferable.
I for one have liked the moves Farhan has made, including the “dumpster diving” you seem to hate. If he doesn’t fortify those dumpster finds with higher end talent when the time comes, then I’ll be right there with you, but it seems so fruitless to complain about that right now when he can’t even make those moves.
I’m a Giants fan too – and I’m certain that substantial moves are coming this offseason. But the kind of low-level move they made here is, right now, the only kind that ANY team can do until then.
Since these no-risk moves occasionally net some value and since (ahem) these are the ONLY kind possible over next couple of months, it makes zero sense to complain about them right now. Meanwhile, such moves won’t preclude the bigger moves that are coming – and I’m glad that the FO is always looking to tinker with the back-end of the roster – at ALL times of the year.
If substantial higher-level acquisitions don’t materialize this offseason, then I’ll join the complainer’s chorus too, but I’ll never complain about the tinkering that ALWAYS goes on at the fringes. Because it’s just due diligence – and occasionally it actually helps deepen a roster.
@goob – THANK YOU for this. I am so sick of Giants “fans” complaining, and they seem to be loudest on these “back-end of the roster”, as you so eloquently put it, moves.
Use more commas goob
R,o,a,s,t,
You, forgot, your, comma, and, period. Please, do, better.
Do the needful
Good stuff. Nam-/:;()”.,?!’[]{}_\|~aste.
@Dark, you said the other day that you were supportive of Farhan’s approach for a long time, but are now getting fed up. ME TOO! This is getting ridiculous!! If we don’t spend the big bucks in FA this offseason (which is not an approach I normally advocate) the Giants will simply fall into McCovey Cove
If Zaidi doesn’t make big offseason splashes like Judge, Bogaerts, Turner then it’s time to FIRE ZAIDI, HARRIS and KAPLAN. Dumpster diving is not a plan just hoping for lightning in a bottle..
Not asking for too much, are we? Judge, Bogaerts, and Turner? When was the last time a team signed, what’s probably, three of the top 10 FAs? I’m guessing it’s been decades, if ever.
Texas signing both Seager and Semien last season was shocking, and that was only two. Teams are lucky if they can land 3 of the top 50.
Why not shoot for the moon. After all Zaidi will never go after Judge, Bogaerts, Turner. Zaidi will just say (like he always does) Giants checked in on them but they chose to go to another team. Zaidi had much rather go dumpster diving in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle.
Well, trying and doing are two separate things. FZ can try as hard as he can, but with competition from at least a dozen other teams willing to spend, he’ll be lucky to sign one.
There was a question in Steve Adams’ chat the other day. When asked if the Giants could sign Judge and Turner, he said the odds of signing both were “next to non-existent”. And you want to add Bogaerts as well. Absolutely not happening.
Not even a Giants fan but it’s just absurd to me. What percentage of players who have gotten to SF have been claimed by them? Surely it’s at least 25%?
I’m really not sure what fans wanted the Giants to do this last off-season. The team won 107 games, why would you not bring the same group back? And as for the guys that left… replaced Gausman with Rodón (worked out wonderfully), replaced Cueto with Cobb (worked pretty darn good), replaced Dickerson with Pederson (All-Star move) and replaced Buster with Bart (I mean, seriously there was no replacing Buster… everyone knew that right?)
How about KEEPING Gausman AND Solano, think we’d be sitting at .500 now? Yeah, NO!
The FACT is, Farhan is handcuffed by cheap ass owners. Farhan is NOT the problem.
It’s not the owners being cheap; it’s that the direction the team is headed in has been a rebuild/retool one so that they could get the aging vets and bad contracts off the books. They also needed to build a competitive farm. That’s all about accomplished, so this offseason and its moves will be very telling.
I love Solano. But he has played in only 47 games this year. Just what Giants needed, another old, often-injured guy with a below average glove.
There’s absolutely no way that you can know that the Giants wouldn’t be a .500 team with Gausman and Solano. With Gausman, they don’t sign Cobb. Though Gausman has been better, the difference between the two isn’t great.
Not to put any value on pitcher’s wins, but Gausman is 9 and 9 for Jays this season, and they’re a much better hitting team.
Solano has missed most of the season with injuries.
So maybe it’s a couple extra wins for the Giants with Gausman. IMO that’s not worth the $23M a year that they would be paying him 4, and 5 years from now, like the Jays will be.
Starting pitching isn’t the Giants problem. Their standings would not be greatly improved with both those guys. They’d still be outside of a WC berth.
Can we please start a poll to get rid of Farhan? He’s a complete joke. Dumpster diving at it’s finest. If you want to compete in the NL west your going to have to sign players that aren’t met to play at your local adult baseball league
Bermudez triangle
The Giants have been gun shy with FA pitchers since Barry Zito
We paid him millions of dollars and he was horrible – but he gave us one good game
was it worth it?
The Giants just haven’t been very good since Zito left, so why spend on a big free agent if they won’t be a difference maker? The Giants made a pretty good push for Bryce Harper, and even if they had signed him, ask the Angels how well signing/retaining big names (Ohtani, Trout, Rendon) works out when the rest of the team is mediocre at best.
Ohtani and Trout have done their share, its pitching and development of farm is where angels lack
It doesn’t matter where the Angels get them, farm or free-agency, the Angels lack good supporting players around Ohtani and Trout. The point is, they need solid team players, not just big name FAs. And all that some Giants fans seem to want is big name FAs.
Barry Zito made the Giants gun shy with FA
Pitchers
We paid him millions of dollars and he was horrible – but he gave us one good game
was it worth it?
Two much better than good games: 2012 NLCS Game 5 and 2012 WS Game 1. Was it worth it? Hell yes!
Barry Zito made the Giants gun shy with FA
Pitchers
There was a lot of buzz after last season on the Astros prospect sites about this kid. And he was rewarded with a 40 man roster spot even though Houston could have waited a year to do so.
This is a great flyer addition, no risk involved.